Kartilya ng Katipunan

I found these inspiring words while chasing down some Filipino-American history. I thought it to be very close to the 10 commandments but written with words more in tune with the present time. These few paragraphs seem to summarize all the teachings of Jesus, the constitution (US & Filipino), and the Declaration of Independence (US & Filipino).

This code of conduct, seems so right and so simple, but in reality is so hard to follow. We let greed, pride and our individuality blind us from what being created ‘in his image’ really means.

Such a great work as this should not be hidden in a folder in a library, guarded as a valuable manuscript from an ancestor. It should be proclaimed throughout the world, shared over and over again so that we remember there is only one ‘I AM’ and that is God.

Emilio Jacinto’s address to the candidates at an initiation (Katipunan) in 1894. This address is known today as the Kartilya ng Katipunan. This is what I feel should be the aspirations of all men in all societies.

Kartilya ng Katipunan

“Doing good for personal profit, and not for the sake of the good itself, is not goodness. Charity is rational, as is the love we owe our neighbors, and so our attitude, deeds and words should ever conform to what is reasonable. Whether the complexion be dark or light, all men are equal. Superiority through knowledge, from riches and by beauty are all possible, but nature gives no other superiority.

The honest man prizes his honor above personal profit; rascals prefer profit to honor. Among men of honor the plighted word is sacred. The prudent man is sparing of his promises, and faithfully guards confidences. Don’t waste your time. Lost riches may be regained but lost time can never be recovered. Defend the abused and make complaint of, or war upon, the aggressor.

Along life’s thorny path the man should be the guide of his wife and children, and if the husband and father takes a route over precipices those whom he guides will also fall over.

Woman should not be regarded as a mere plaything but as the faithful companion that shares with man all the penalties of life. Her weakness should make her a special care when you remember that you were born of a woman and recall the mother that brought you up.

Whatever you would be unwilling to have done to your own wife, your own daughters and your own sisters, that do not you do to wives or daughters or sisters of your neighbors.

A man is of no more worth merely because he is a king, or has an aquiline nose, or is fair-skinned, nor because he is a priest, calling himself the minister of God, nor through enjoying great privileges among the fortunate of the earth. The real man is he who, of tried and trusty valor, does good, keeps his word, and is worthy and self-respecting. Such an one neither abuses others nor associates with those that abuse others. Although he may have been brought up in remote mountains and speaks no other language than his rude mother-tongue, real manhood will know how to love and cherish the native land.

When these rules of conduct shall be known to, and observed by all Filipinos, then the sun of our long longed-for liberty will shine brightly on this favored portion of the earth and its rays diffuse such inconceivable joy among the united brothers of the same race that the lives of those who fall and the fatigues and sufferings of those who survive will be well repaid.” – Emilio Jacinto 1894